


What really happens during a titans shift

by lusium



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen, what is this gonna be tagged as?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-27
Updated: 2013-10-27
Packaged: 2017-12-30 15:24:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1020291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lusium/pseuds/lusium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What am I doing writing this?</p>
            </blockquote>





	What really happens during a titans shift

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MoonHunter02](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonHunter02/gifts).



_'It hurts'_ he thought, teeth digging into the meat of his thumb, the metallic tang of blood exploding into his mouth. Eren would have thought long before that he had grown used to the pain of the transformation, but he knew it wasn't the worst of it... It had yet to come after all. Eren could feel each disc in his titans spine as they developed out of thin air. Each disc pressing into his front. The sharp points lacking the amount of pressure that would bring blood to the surface, but they still hurt.

Each new bone that seemed to develop out of thin air made an ache start developing deep within the marrow of his own bones, like they were elongating and snapping themselves to get correct. Some bones seemed to be too long for the body they were the frame of, being solved only by twisting unnaturally far until they snapped to the correct length, each time sending a burning pain through one of Erens matching bones. Every bone that snapped, felt like they were his own being crushed to dust.

The skeleton had barely finished being developed when a heat started to envelope him as the muscles were created, his arms being held up by the muscle that developed under them, forming all around him, he could feel it extending under his hands, throughout his entire being, each muscle moving felt like excruciating pain, one many would think him used to the way be bit his lip to keep quiet. Ligaments started to wind themselves through the muscles, a once dulling pain only worsening more than he would ever care to admit, and this was only the upper body being made at the moment... The pain still wasn't as bad as it could, and would get though.

The rest of the titans muscles spasmed around as the ligaments were strewn about, connecting each muscle together with blinding speed, other muscles being created out of thin air to surround the rest of him, to conceal him away within the neck of the monster he was becoming. Eren never did understand why the pain that would only be felt if they were his bones kept coming to him, only worse than what one would imagine. He never understood it. It was pointless for him to ever think about it for so long, he always risked loosing control when he did think. 

The muscles had hardly finished forming around his legs when more ligaments started shooting through the muscles, making his own ligaments ache and cramp, _'Why does it hurt so much... Its not a real body...'_ he thought, but he knew he was wrong. The muscles that had barely finished forming had thin tunnels winding throughout them, ligaments in place when they had finished forming. 

Veins started forming as did what internal organs titans did have, the heart situating itself within an empty chest cavity, bringing forth another wave of searing pain, one after another. No time for him to try and brace against it. _'All this pain... I thought I would be used to it by now. Guess I was wrong.'_ Each vein that was made, connected together at various spots, only to split into smaller veins that fed various muscles. Arteries ripped free of the heart, paining Eren more than he would be comfortable with. Biting as hard as possible into his lip to prevent himself from crying out in pain, teeth breaking the soft tissue of his lip, more blood dripping from the corner of his mouth as the pain vibrated through his entire body.

He could feel every vein as they attached to the others, as those attached to arteries, he could feel the heart begin to slowly beat to start pumping blood through the body. The lungs had chosen that time to spring forth, settling behind the heart with an excruciating pain, this time, Eren did cry out, a short and high pitched scream that most would mistake for a hissing of steam while the body all connected together in a single bolt of lightning, nobody knew what pain he went through. Nobody would understand if he did explain. 

It felt as though his lungs were being torn out with a rusty spoon, and shredded in front of him while he could still feel it, it made it hard for him to breathe. Any breath he could get was only adding fuel to the fire of his pain. The pain in his lungs soon started to dull as they finished forming, the stomach forming moments later. It made him want to throw up, the sudden pain in his stomach was like he was being stabbed repeatedly and slowly, with the blades twisting every time they were inserted into his stomach. 

As the organs finished constructing themselves, it was time for the worst part of the transformation into the titan, the part he hated the most. It was time for the nerves to connect together, to create the nervous system of the titan, the nerves were going to tear into his own skin to connect him to the body of the titan, it was pretty much going to be an extension upon his own body’s nervous system.

At first, the nerves didn't hurt too much, the barest needle prick was all he felt at first, casually sliding along the closer it got towards his chest area. He slightly tensed within the wall of muscle that encased him, he knew it was going to happen. But the times were always different. However it didn't seem to happen yet, nerves sliding along the bones of the titans skeleton, sliding through muscles to find their homes.

Eren was still relatively free within the titans body, able to move around a bit before it happened, nerves shot into his flesh, making his body, and in turn the titans body jerk at the pain. Blood dripping free from where they connected into his flesh. The pain was unbearable, feeling as though someone was hacking away at his flesh repeatedly. A normal person would have passed out by now, but he knew it wasn't done. And if he did pass out, he'd loose his control, and would have to be killed.

All the pain faded for a moment as he seemed to loose himself in his thoughts, having forgotten what was going on when other nerves stabbed into his arms, yanking them down against the muscle that seemed to move a bit to welcome the limbs. Tendrils of the muscles slipping over Erens limbs, it would be described like an octopus’s tentacle grabbing his arm... If he knew what that felt like. But he still wasn't done. His head was still free. And he silently dreaded what was coming next.

He could feel the nerves that were already connected to him move through his flesh, finding his other nerves and wrapping around them to connect together. The pain made him see white behind closed eyelids, jaw clenched tightly in a way to keep himself silent. The final nerves were taking their time, he could figure out that much. It felt like eons to him with the transformation going, but on the outside, it was mere moments. 

Sharp tendrils pierced his flesh, finally making him loose him resolve to keep quiet, a loud scream of pain ripping its way through his throat, drowned out by the sound of the strange lightning that always was present before a titans transformation and lasted until it was finished. He could feel it, the tendril like nerves snaking their way along the surface of his skull, wrapping around other nerves before slipping into his eye socket. This always disgusted him, and at times. Terrified him.

He could feel the tendrils wrap around the optic nerve, slithering along the nerve itself to connect at the base of his skull with the rest of the nerves. At this point, his mind was nearly blank, clouded thoughts drifting through his head with the amount of new nerves and the amount of raw pain they brought circling around his system. The last thing that he could remember at this point, was the development of his very limited vocal chords. A sharp pain in his throat snapping him out of the daze he had been in momentarily, drawing his attention to the pain as the throat of the titan he was encased by started shifting a bit. Hiding away the developing vocal chords for when the transformation would be complete.

He was nothing but disgusted with what he had felt moments before, the slithering tendrils felt like how he remembered worms sliding along his palm felt. All it made him remember at that point was a fuzzy memory of sitting under a large tree with Mikasa and Armin, listening to the blonde read one of the stories he brought from his Grandpa while he himself pulled worms from their hiding places, and Mikasa... Well, he wasn't sure what she was doing, probably sleeping. In fact, he couldn't remember too many things at this point, it was hurting his brain worse than his throat to even try and think back to the week before at this stage of the transformation. The memories were cut short as the pain subsided, signaling his transformation had been completed. 

To test before the steam disappeared, his blinked a few times, the images of the muscle tissue surrounding his body disappeared, being engulfed in black for a few moments before his vision reopened to reveal the thick steam that came with this titan body. He could feel his pupils as they started dilating, the light shifting around until he could comfortably see what was around him. He carefully moved his hands within the muscles, gaze shifting to look at the responding form of the titans claws hands.

Eren felt like he was on fire inside the titans neck, like hot coals were being pressed against every part of his body, burning away at his clothes and flesh. The heat seeming to sink down deep into his bones. He flexed his jaw a bit, only remembering a bit too late that this titan had no real 'lips' and just looked as though he was scrunching his face up at nothing through the steam and lightning. A growl started vibrating in his throat, testing the vocal chords when they finished their development, finding with a pleased hum that the same growl echoed through the titans throat. Vibrating the area he lay encased in muscle.

He couldn't remember much of the transformation after the nerves and vocal chords would develop, the last step of the process only being the developing skin that layered itself along the muscles. Adding what he would best call _'insulation'_ to the muscles around him, the heat growing far worse as the skin finished its layers. 

With a deep breath, Eren knew the transformation had finally completed. While the pain may have faded momentarily from this, there would be more when he needed to be cut out. Anything that seemed to touch him on the titans body, seemed to mess with him within the neck. As the lightning disappeared, he tilted his head back, and let out a very familiar roar.

It was time to hunt some titans.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt given on skype from a friend. They just wanted to have an indepth titan shift sequence and I might have gone overboard
> 
> (What the heck did I write? I'm sorry this sucks worse than a dyson vaccume and I'm ashamed of what you have to read... If you don't mind I'll go hide in a corner and crawl under a rock to die)


End file.
